


the road not taken (looks real good now)

by starskies



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Bad Flirting, Childhood Friends, Kissing, M/M, Oneshot, Student Yang Jeongin | I.N, Tattoo Artist Seo Changbin, background seungchan that i added illegally, changbin's tiddies might make an appearance too oops, for completely selfish reasons, i don't really talk about them much but please know they're there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28091481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starskies/pseuds/starskies
Summary: “Innie,” Changbin pouts. “You wouldn't let Minho hyung eat my fingers, would you?”Jeongin rubs under Doongie's chin, smiling fondly when he starts to purr, but doesn't look up before answering Changbin's question. “Hyung likes me, but that doesn't mean I can control him. You're on your own.”
Relationships: Seo Changbin/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Comments: 12
Kudos: 60





	the road not taken (looks real good now)

**Author's Note:**

> hiii i did this one for a secret santa for my love nic ♡ they requested tattooist changbin, and i hope this lives up to their expectations for that! it ended up being shorter than i originally planned but ahhh it was still fun to write bc JEONGBIN !!! anyway i hope you enjoy mwah mwah mwah ♡

When Changbin finally comes out from the back room, it's to Jeongin sitting on the floor. Doongie is curled up in his lap, eyes half closed in contentment as Jeongin scratches behind his ears. Changbin sighs.

“Seungmin-ah,” he calls. “Can you please tell Minho hyung to stop bringing his cats here? I'm trying to run a business and don't need cat hair making it harder.”

Seungmin is lounging in the chair at the front desk, feet propped up and phone out, but he glances up in amusement.

“Channie hyung runs it,” he snorts. “And I'm not telling him, but you can. Call me if he tries to bite your fingers off, I want to watch.”

They really need better employees. Like, sure, maybe Seungmin is good at his job and their business has been way better since he updated Chan and Changbin's poor excuse for a website. Maybe the pictures he uploads to their shop's Instagram page are really nice, and maybe Chan has a really obvious and seriously embarrassing crush on him, but like. The kid's such a brat. He didn't even come back and tell Changbin that Jeongin was here.

“Innie,” Changbin pouts. “You wouldn't let Minho hyung eat my fingers, would you?”

Jeongin rubs under Doongie's chin, smiling fondly when he starts to purr, but doesn't look up before answering Changbin's question. “Hyung likes me, but that doesn't mean I can control him. You're on your own.”

“Yah, why are all my dongsaengs so disrespectful to me? Even you, after I spent all night finishing a design for you?”

That's it, the magic word that makes Jeongin look up at him with the awe he deserves. He even pushes Doongie off his lap as he stands quickly and brushes the hair off his legs, and Doongie looks disgruntled about being moved so quickly after all the attention he had been getting. Well. Changbin is only just mature enough to not shoot a smug look at a _cat._ But really, Doongie is too spoiled anyway.

“It's done? You really finished it already?”

Changbin hums, trying not to look too pleased. “There are a few things I might want to tweak, but for now it's as good as ready. Wanna see?”

“Yeah,” Jeongin says, but Seungmin interrupts.

“If you guys are staying longer, I'm gonna leave now,” he says, standing to grab his coat. “I have plans later. Can you lock up tonight, hyung?” Changbin nods.

“You have a date with Channie hyung, right?” he asks, and Seungmin's cheeks color immediately.

“It is _not_ a date, we're just getting dinner together.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Changbin agrees, and Jeongin snorts.

Seungmin narrows his eyes. “If that's what qualifies for a date in your mind, then you two enjoy your _date_ later too.”

“Oh, we will,” Changbin returns cheekily, and Jeongin shoves at his shoulder even as he laughs.

After Seungmin leaves, not without flipping them off for laughing when he smiles at his phone ( _definitely_ a text from Chan), Jeongin sidles up to Changbin as he leads him to the back room. “We're getting dinner?”

“Yeah, I was gonna take you out for barbecue since you'll probably be busy with your parents for your birthday and graduation. Didn't wanna miss my chance to do something for you.”

“Ah, hyung,” Jeongin sounds slightly embarrassed. He's all grown up now, and it's not often that Changbin gets to see that light blush on his cheeks anymore. It makes him smile. “You don't have to. The tattoo is more than enough.”

Changbin quickly types his four digit password into the keypad on the door, and it chimes a small beep as it unlocks. He leads Jeongin inside, and motions for him to sit on the stool while he digs through some of the papers scattered across his desk.

“The tattoo isn't a real gift, I promised you I'd do it for your graduation years ago. Stop worrying about it.”

“Yeah, but it's a custom design, and you're doing it for free…” Jeongin has hardened with age, hardly lets Changbin get away with anything nowadays without the appropriate amount of teasing, but he's still one of the sweetest people Changbin knows. It's endlessly endearing.

“I mean, if you really wanna pay for it so bad, you can ask Channie hyung to do it for you,” he says with a grin, finally extracting a blue folder from the mess. He takes the leather stool across from Jeongin and scoots up to him, holding the folder out.

Jeongin takes it carefully, expression on his face a mix between excited and slightly nervous. “Channie hyung wouldn't make me pay for it either.” He pauses. “And I don't want anyone other than you doing my first one, anyway.”

“Yeah,” Changbin agrees absentmindedly, looking at Jeongin’s bare arm and already planning in his head where the design will curve over his bicep. “No one better touch that pretty skin of yours other than me.”

He freezes a second later, realizing too late just how _bad_ that sounded, and coughs to cover it up. “I just mean—um, y'know, I don't trust anyone else to do it…” He trails off awkwardly. Changbin's foot, meet Changbin's mouth.

Jeongin’s blush has gone even deeper now, the tips of his ears a bright red, and he flips the folder open quickly. Immediately, his face changes to an expression of awe as he holds the design up closer, eyes wide.

When they were in school together, Jeongin used to sit with him at lunch hour and watch him draw. They spent hours like that, Jeongin with his head on the desk next to Changbin’s hand, or hanging over Changbin’s shoulder with none of the shyness he had around others. He asked Changbin to design his first tattoo for him long before Changbin even knew he wanted to be a tattoo artist. Now, he’s designed it, and is going to put it on him too.

The design isn’t too large, but it’s detailed; a Korean haetae, a mythical creature somewhere between a lion and a dog said to protect from fire and disaster. Changbin had been surprised when Jeongin asked for it, expecting him to go the smaller and simpler route, but it’s a fun design, and he knows it will look good on him. He carefully takes hold of Jeongin’s wrist, pulling to rest his hand in his own lap so that his upper arm is curved in front of them.

“Here,” he runs his finger lightly over the skin just above the crook of his elbow, “Is where the head will go. The tail will be back here,” he draws a line to the back side of his arm. Jeongin shivers slightly.

“It’s beautiful, hyung,” he says quietly.

Changbin quirks a smile. “Hell yeah it is. I drew it.”

Jeongin rolls his eyes. “Modest, as always.”

“What? It’s good, I can admit it. Are you really sure though? This is a pretty big design for your first time. Don’t you want to start with something smaller?”

“No. This is perfect.”

It’s kind of hard to look away from him when he’s being this earnest, but at the same time, it makes him feel oddly shy. Changbin gets complimented on his art all the time, but Jeongin has always been honest with his criticisms. If something doesn’t look good, he’ll say it. The bald approval on his face now sticks under Changbin’s skin and makes him feel restless. “Suit yourself. I can do it next weekend, if you’re free.”

“Yeah,” Jeongin says. “Graduation isn’t until the 10th, so. Plenty of time.”

“Cool.” He stands up. “You can take a picture of it if you want. See if you find anything you want me to change before we do it.”

Jeongin nods, and pulls his phone out to snap one. After that, Changbin rehides the folder in the mountain of stuff spread over his desk, (which Jeongin gives him a judgmental look for even though he _really_ can’t, Changbin has seen his bedroom), and looks for his wallet and keys so he can lock up.

“Hyung.” Changbin glances over at him. “Will the next one be free too? Y’know, for my birthday.”

Changbin laughs at him. “Go get your coat, Jeongin.”

  
  


The barbecue place is close enough that they decide to just walk, but it’s cold out, and stepping into the warm restaurant is a relief.

As they grill the food, Jeongin tells him about the plans his mom made for them once they’re in Busan again, and about the dorm building he wants to live in when he moves to university next year. And it’s nice. It’s nice, spending time like this with Jeongin. They don’t get to do things like this enough anymore.

When they step out of the restaurant later, the scent of cooked meat clinging to their clothes and shoulders hunched against the chill, the street is busy. The small road is blocked off so that people on either side are spilling off the sidewalks from the shops and restaurants, everything lit by the multicolored lights that line the street. Couples walk with different kinds of fried street food clutched between them, groups of students laugh over steaming paper cups, and faint music comes from all different sources.

Changbin's mind is stuck on how far the closest subway station is from here, but he's distracted by a large white flake floating right onto the tip of his nose. He reaches up to wipe at it just as another catches in his eyelashes, and on his cheek.

"Snow?" he murmurs. He hadn't seen it in the forecast for tonight.

"Oh, wow," Jeongin says. "It's pretty late in the season for this."

Changbin doesn't answer, watching the flakes drift carefully down to the pavement and disappear against the concrete. He turns to ask Jeongin if he has an umbrella, before he catches sight of his expression. Jeongin always adored snow when he was a kid, would drag Changbin out to play in it even though Changbin really preferred to admire it from a safe, non-wet distance. His face is all lit up, looking not too different from earlier when Changbin showed him the design he drew for him. Changbin loves it. It always unearths the complicated tangle of fondness, warmth, and something else that he feels when he's with him.

Reaching over, he slips his hand into Jeongin's pocket, pulling his hand out to hold it in his own, tugging him a little closer and pretending not to see the smile that Jeongin hides in the collar of his coat. In Changbin's chest, he feels something shake loose, delicate and new like the snow.

“Do you wanna come back to mine for a while?”

Jeongin looks surprised by the question, and honestly, so is Changbin. His goshiwon is pretty far from Changbin’s apartment, far enough that it’s really unlikely he would come over past 9pm and not sleep over. Despite how he words it, there’s more to the invitation than is visible on the surface.

“…Sure. Why not. I don’t have to be up early tomorrow anyway.” It feels like there’s something under the surface of Jeongin’s reply, too. It crackles over Changbin’s skin and dances up his spine.

“Okay.”

They find the station and ride Line 2 back to Changbin’s neighborhood, stopping briefly at the CU across from his apartment building to grab some beer since he’s been out of it for a few days.

Jeongin quickly makes himself at home in his apartment as usual, chucking his padded coat down and sprawling over the floor to soak up the warmth from the ondol heated floor like a lizard. His cheeks are still pink from being out in the cold, and Changbin watches him with a fond smile and thinks  _ “cute cute cute” _ about a billion times in his head as he cranks up the room temperature and collapses down next to him.

He pulls the Cass out of the plastic bag while Jeongin comes back to life for long enough to hit the power button on Changbin’s small TV. After cycling through the channels two or three times, he settles back on the first one, an old episode of Masked Singer, and mutes it, which seems incredibly pointless, but Changbin doesn’t point it out. He pops open Jeongin’s can for him and passes it over before opening his own, slurping quickly at the foam and froths out.

“Oh, have you told your parents yet? About the tattoo.”

“Of course not,” Jeongin snorts, and Changbin smiles because he already knew he’d get that answer before he even asked. “That’s a surprise they’re gonna get when they’re here.”

“If they happen to notice it.”

“Well, yeah. I’m not just gonna bring it up unprompted.” He gets distracted a moment watching Dongmakgol Girl pull her mask off. “If I just happen to wear long sleeves the whole time I’m with them, well. It’s winter anyway.”

That’s what he loves so much about Jeongin. He’s never taken life too seriously, least of all something as trivial as what others think about him. He loves his parents, Changbin knows he does, but he wouldn’t let anyone stop him from doing what he wants to. It’s that honesty and genuineness that Changbin has always found himself so drawn to. Jeongin always stays true to himself, even when it seemed most difficult to.

He scoots back over to him and pushes his sleeve up a little. It’s maybe the most clear evidence of Jeongin’s growth over the past few years, the hard muscle packed over his arm that used to be a slim stick stuck to a shy boy with braces. He works out more days of the week than even Changbin does now, and his body shows it clearly.

Changbin giggles a bit as he squeezes his arm softly, warm with the beer settling into his stomach and flush with pride for the boy he calls his best friend.

“Jeongin-ah. You’ve grown up so much, haven’t you?”

“I was never that far behind you in the first place, hyung,” Jeongin murmurs. Maybe he’s right. Changbin can’t count the times from their childhood when he felt like Jeongin was even more mature than him.

“You’re not scared about getting the tattoo, are you?” he asks. “It’s gonna hurt. But the outer arm here isn’t bad, it’s one of the least painful areas.”

Jeongin hums, even though he probably already knew that. “I’m not worried about the pain, I think I’ll be okay.” He grins. “I’m pretty tough, hyung.”

“I know you are.” Changbin’s hand drops from Jeongin’s arm.

He doesn’t think it always felt like this. A swooping sensation in his stomach when he touches Jeongin’s skin. One he wants to keep chasing. It’s as addicting as the thing that keeps him getting more tattoos. Sitting on Chan’s bench, his own illustration of a cool beetle he found on the internet last week sitting next to him, and Chan grimacing because he thinks it looks gross but has already dutifully outlined on the inner side of Changbin’s arm. It never stops feeling good, putting art on his body, and there’s a part of him now that thinks Jeongin will never stop feeling good, either.

“Have you thought about what other tattoos you might want, after this first one?”

Jeongin nods, “A bit. I don’t want to go too crazy…” Changbin smiles, “But I know those are famous last words. I don’t think I could do a full sleeve, but I want more on this arm? I think.” He fiddles with his empty beer can, which Changbin hadn’t noticed he’d finished already, and twists the tab off into the opening. He puts it aside and reaches into the bag for another. “You make me wanna try other places, though. I dunno.”

“I do? How so?”

Jeongin looks at him, eyes wide. “You know, hyung.” Changbin snorts, nudging him with his foot. “Can I see it, please?”

“Ah, but it’s so cold right now,” Changbin objects, pretending to be difficult just because he knows it might get Jeongin to whine. Indeed, he gets a pouty look.

“It’s warm inside! And I haven’t seen it in so long…”

“Ah, well…” Changbin sighs, pretending to think it over, before shrugging the cardigan off his shoulders. “Fine.”

Jeongin sits up excitedly, setting his can down and pulling his legs up to sit cross legged in front of Changbin.

Normally, when he would show off tattoos on his torso, usually just after he got them, he would only pull his t-shirt high enough for them to be visible. He’s not sure why he tugs his shirt all the way off now, but it feels right. Doing so reveals thick cluster of peonies on the right side of his chest, and the tiger snarling just above his left hip. To show Jeongin what he really wants to see, though, he turns around until he sits with his back facing him.

He got this one a few years ago, from a Taiwanese artist while at a convention in the States. Bright red lines form the bold outline of a serpent-shaped dragon, twirling from the small of his back up to the top of his spine. Every scale is outlined in such careful detail, its claws curved and sharp, its expression unyielding and furious—that looking at it feels like watching it wriggle and squirm over his skin, something too powerful to be locked into stillness.

Jeongin’s fingers fall to trace it immediately, and Changbin can feel his thumb brushing gently over the whiskers, the horns, the spikes on its back. Changbin’s not sure if this one is his favorite of all his tattoos, but it’s always been Jeongin’s, and it’s hard to suppress the shiver that runs down his spine when his hands move with such intimacy and familiarity over the canvas of Changbin’s back.

His hand presses flat against the base of his spine, no boundaries left standing between them especially with Jeongin being a naturally forward person, and Changbin can’t help but jerk slightly at his hand still cold and a little wet from holding the beer can.

“Ah, Innie…” he huffs, but Jeongin doesn’t respond.

He runs his hand the rest of the way up Changbin’s back and stops at his nape, before brushing his fingers through the dark hair there at the back of Changbin’s head.

“So pretty, hyung…” he murmurs, and Changbin flushes immediately. This is still his Jeongin, isn’t it? Where he learned confidence like that from, Changbin has no idea. But he can feel his ears burning.

Changbin reaches for his shirt, but Jeongin’s hand on his wrist stops him. He tugs gently until Changbin looks at him, pulling him to face him more.

“Hyung, you’ve taken really good care of me these past few years, especially since my parents moved back to Busan.” His face is earnest, genuine in the way that Changbin knows well, but there’s a new kind of determination in his eyes that he hasn’t seen before. “I want to thank you for that. For the tattoo, for everything.”

Jeongin rarely looks as serious as this. Changbin can’t help but feel slightly embarrassed, and surprised by the sudden show of emotion. “Jeonginnie, c’mon, you really don’t need to—”

“I want to, though,” Jeongin interrupts. “Let me, hyung.”

Changbin swallows. He feels exposed, like a live wire. He can still feel the ghost of Jeongin’s touch all over his back, and it makes it hard to focus. “O-kay.”

His hand moves from Changbin’s wrist to his neck, thumb resting against the peony petals that reach up to his shoulder. Changbin’s body sways with the movement that brings him closer to Jeongin, and their faces draw together unconsciously and simultaneously like waves pulled in to shore.

“This is okay, right?” Jeongin finds the words to whisper, and Changbin nods, his own voice gone down deep to hide in his chest.

At the first press of lips to his, it feels like it’s supposed to. A chaste, simple kiss, nothing more than a show of affection and appreciation. When Changbin presses in harder, is when it becomes more.

It’s not even the first time they’ve done this. When Jeongin was 16, Changbin gave him his first kiss. He was young, inexperienced, had a mouth full of braces, and he practically begged Changbin to do it, just so he could get it over with. Changbin laughed, a lot, but gave him an easy peck anyway, and that was the end of it. This kiss is nothing like that one.

Jeongin’s hand tightens against Changbin’s neck at the same time Changbin slips his own into Jeongin’s hair, and he licks the tasteless beer from Jeongin’s lips without compunction. He shivered when he first took his shirt off, but now it feels like a hundred degrees in his small living room, and he has to stop himself from falling too deep into the sensation of Jeongin’s hands grabbing at his bare shoulders and his teeth nipping over Changbin’s mouth.

He pulls back slowly, dragging it out as much as he can until they’re once again sitting across from each other with wide eyes, now significantly closer than before and each breathing heavier with spit-slick lips.

“Jeongin,” Changbin breathes. The slow grin he gets in reply feels something like a straight shot of fireworks back into his veins. He laughs, and falls forward until his forehead hits Jeongin’s shoulder and he can hide his eyes against his shirt. “Ah, shit.”

“Well, you’re a lot better than last time,” Jeongin says, and Changbin immediately leans back with a squawk.

“Yah, what are you talking about? That was hardly a kiss, you can’t compare them,” he snarks. “Besides, I was a great kisser at 18 too.”

Jeongin rolls his eyes and tosses Changbin’s t-shirt in his face. “Put some clothes on, hyung, you’re making me cold just looking at you.”

It’s easy to fall back into teasing, to smack Jeongin in the head with his shirt before pulling it back on, and to groan loudly when the movement causes Jeongin to knock into his beer can and spill it all over the floor.

There’s nothing more familiar than putting half the paper towel roll to work cleaning up spilled beer, nor cuddling up to Jeongin on the couch later once they’ve argued over what to watch on Netflix for a good fifteen minutes. Changbin feels warm and comfortable with the knowledge that no matter what changes, there are just as many things that stay the same, and for most of his life, Jeongin has been one of them. Even when Changbin faced shit from his parents for his career path, or when he couldn’t find work for a while before he met Chan, Jeongin was always a constant. A bit like a protector, guarding him from complete disaster simply with his presence. Changbin has done all he can to give that safety and consistency back, but he thinks he still has to work on it.

At the very least, here seems like a good place for him to start, leaving Jeongin with the futon spread on the living room floor and a lingering kiss pressed to his mouth that, he hopes, will keep him safe through the night too.

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhhhhh jeongbin. the idea for jeongin's haetae tattoo was based on [this](https://www.instagram.com/p/CG-To95F81c/), though changbin's design isn't exactly like that one. bin's dragon is also a bit like [this](https://www.instagram.com/p/B5-efszlLAk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link). not relevant but seungmin has one single tattoo, it is in fact a tramp stamp, and chan has a heart attack when he first discovers it :D i hope you enjoyed if you read this all!!! i love you!!! bye bye ♡ ♡ ♡


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